The Poet The Poet is a writer, first, an actor on the spot; They tweak and twirl and twiddle, 'till they run you cold and hot. Bending use of adjective, worrying of plot; Crafting out a simile with hyperbolic fraught. Pacing over synonyms, antonyms if jammed, Repurposing of idioms, with word or two in hand. Verbal inconsistencies; conjugations bland; Or preposition overload; for each a stanza's canned. Conjunctions for the metre, contractions in a fix. Allusion propped with metaphor, and point survives the mix. Interpretation fluid, providing choice and picks. Only giving dialog with promises and licks. Grinding out a character, "Who hasn't spoken yet!?" Keeping track of every noun presented in the set. Laying bare, opposing sides, goading you to bet. Keeping secret dangers near, pricking at your fret. Juxtaposing syntax, to rend your logic raw. Making sure the coming be, the thing you never saw. Exercising licence, criminal of law. Murderous of circumstance, Bludgeoned time and place, askance, Killing form in happenstance, Slashing words at every chance, Stabbing at your understance, Bleeding you with every lance, Shredding you with each advance, Ending you with dagger's glance. To bury you below a dance of tooth and phrase and claw. Punctuated human hearts, apostrophes of tears. Semi-colon tensions with staccato comma'd fears. Periods release you, take hands away from ears. Comforting potential and a change of wind appears. A life of love, condensed to give a cadence to the gale. Toddler thoughts of love untold, A teenage kiss in heather, rolled, Caressing neck and bend and fold, A needing for advancement, bold, Commitment to be held and hold, In warming sun or nights of cold, In love enough to share a soul, Respect enough for growing old, With moments that define the whole, in symmetry of tale. Counterpoint in brazen view for scope and depth and scale. Drawing out comparison to leave composure pale. Then retrace their winding path, to proof some tease or clue. Leaving language breadcrumbs, so you can follow through. Foreshadowing completion, "Please don't say it's true." Adding extra verses, in encores one and two. Tighten rhyming sequences, as need or wont to do. Recount the pace and syllables, give in to beat and cue. Adverbly tie up loose ends, but leave some thoughts to stew. So wrap it in their maxim: Fully write for you. © Sean O'Leary 2019
